Ann Erdman is the Public Information Officer for the City of Pasadena, California.
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Friday, April 16, 2010

Monuments and Memorials in Pasadena

I gave the mighty Zack Stromberg -- my graphic designer in the Public Affairs Office -- the assignment of photographing monuments and memorials in public rights of way and on public property throughout Pasadena. For the past month or so he has been snapping away when time and weather permit.

The Pasadena Pioneers Bridge Rock is a native boulder with a plaque embedded on it. It's on the west side of Orange Grove Boulevard overlooking the 134 Freeway.

The inscription reads:

Pasadena Pioneer Bridge

Erected by the California Commission and the Division of Highways of the Department of Public Works – named by resolution of the 1953 state legislature and dedicated to all

Pasadena Pioneers

especially the twenty seven who founded this city near this spot on January 27, 1874. Dedicated October 8, 1953 by the City of Pasadena and a committee of citizens grateful for our illustrious past and committed to a more glorious future.

Here's one more for now:

Founders Monument was dedicated Jan. 27, 1954, and rededicated Nov. 12, 1986, when a new plaque replaced the original marker, which had been stolen (shame on you, whoever you are).

It's at Defenders Park, southwest corner of Orange Grove and Colorado. The stones were recycled from the library building that was constructed in 1890 at what is now Memorial Park.

The inscription:

This monument is dedicated in honor of the twenty-seven founders of the City of Pasadena. Near this spot on January 27, 1874 the original purchasers of land in the Rancho San Pasqual met and selected each his choice of lots.

2 comments:

Great to see this.Hmmm...too bad that the elder Helen Elliott was not included as part of the pioneers. She is often quoted as the person who shared that she was coming to California, no matter what others might choose. Early on she was viewed as a sort of Grand Dame. She was a president for the Pioneer Association. Lots more - she was a pretty interesting woman.